


A life for a Burrough, what kind of deal is that?

by RavenclawRiter



Category: Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Angst, Fluff, I didn’t edit this, I write this during class, I’m sorry it’s really hard to write in newsie slang, Kidnapping, M/M, Newsies - Freeform, Other tags to be added, Period-Typical Homophobia, but it won’t be too bad, im actually proud of this, im sorry, i’lol prob edit this later, spot is a worried boyfriend, the first chapter is really bad, thers gonna be some blood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-17
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-09-20 22:03:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17030817
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RavenclawRiter/pseuds/RavenclawRiter
Summary: Queens is pissed, Manhattan and Brooklyn have been topping the sales for too long, luckily, they know things, things that could knock the king of Brooklyn off his throne, if he doesn’t do what they say. Manhattan is just an added bonus.~~~~~I’ll try to update whenever I can, but you’ll get an update on mondays.





	1. Spot

**Author's Note:**

> I’m sorry, I honestly have no idea what I’m doing.  
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> I think ima try to post every Monday at some point, I’m sorry if I don’t.  
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> Also I know the first chapter is really short, I’m sorry, I’ll try to make the next one longer.

Racetrack Higgins had been on his way back to the Brooklyn lodging house when it happened. He had taken a shortcut down an alley, which, hindsight 20/20 probably wasn’t the best idea to begin with, but he felt a hand clamp over his mouth and a hit to the head with something hard, and he was out like a light. 

~~~~~~~~~SPOT~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
He was only supposed to be gone for a half hour, a ten minute walk to sheepshead, ten minutes to pick up his winnings for the day, and a ten minute walk back. Instead, three hours later, Race still hadn’t returned. Spot sent a runner to Manhattan, hoping against all hope that he had just gone back to Manhattan for some reason, but the runner came back with even worse news. “Jack said that he thought that Race was stayin’ over in Brooklyn tonight, and that one of the ‘hatten newsies, Albert, hadn’t showed up back at the lodging house tonight either.”

“Damn it!” Spot exclaimed, pounding his fist on the table. “two ‘hatten newsies, go missing on the same night, and one of them spends so much time in Brooklyn that he could be considered Brooklyn, this doesn’t sound like an accident, this sounds planned, like a move against the two most powerful Burroughs in the area.” 

“That seemed to be what Jack was thinking as well, he said that tomorrow he’d meet you at the bridge, and you could set up a few search parties. ‘seein as Race was practically Brooklyn anyway.” York, his runner replied.

“No... no, we ain’t just gonna leave Race and, what did you say his name was, Albert, out there, they could turn up dead by morning.” Spot said, his voice getting more and more desperate. Everyone in Brooklyn, and most everyone in Manhattan knew that Spot and Race were more than just friends, they were... something more than that.

“Oh... an, Spot, there’s one more thing, uh... Jack said that Albert was, ya know, gay, like you, and his boyfriend was hysterical when I got there, so I don’t know if that could be related, but Jack thought you might ‘wanna know.”

“ ‘k thanks York, ima head over to ‘hatten now, Boots is in charge until I get back.” He said, already heading over to the door.

“ k, and Spot.... uh, don’t die.” York warned, Brooklyn would be in ruins without their king.

 

The treck to Manhattan seemed to take days, when it was really only an hour or so. Ya know what they say, time flies when you’re worried about your boyfriend getting kidnapped by one of the other Burroughs as a powerplay. 

When he got there he banged on the door until it was opened by none other than Jack Kelly, the ‘fearless leader of Manhattan’, he looked almost as surprised to see Spot standing outside the door, as he looked worried, probably for the ‘hatten boy, Albert.

“Spot, uh... what’re you doing here, I said we’d meet up tomorrow, I have, other things I gotta deal with right now.” Jack said, with an almost quivering voice.

“I don’t care what you’re doing right now, as long as you can drop it. We need to talk.”


	2. Elmer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Elmer’s POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly idk about this, I’m thinking of having the POV go like Spot, Elmer, Race, Albert. So ima prob try that.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~ ALBERT ~~~~~~~~~~~~

He had only been about three blocks away from the lodging house. It had been a particularly good day today, and he had sold all his papes before noon, though that could probably be the good headline for the first time in weeks, terrified flight from burnin’ inferno.

 

He had been walking down the sidewalk, when he just happened to look down one of the alley ways that he was passing. He saw a body on the ground, and something that looked like blood pooling on the ground by their head.

 

He ran over and crouched down next to the body, and what he saw confused him, what looked like Races curly blonde hair was stained with blood, but this couldn’t be him, he was supposed to be staying in Brooklyn tonight, but this was definitely Race, and it looked like he had been knocked out and then dragged here, based on the blood trail... leading over to a dark area... behind some crates... in a dark alley.

 

He stood up just as a well-muscled newsie from queens, stepped out from behind the crates.

 

“What did you do to Race? What are you doing...?” He asked as the queens newsie took two long steps over to him and knocked him out with a crowbar that looked like he had found it in that same alley. Oh, was the last thought in his head before everything went dark.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~ELMER~~~~~~~~~~~~

Where was he? Why wasn’t he back yet? Ok, Elmer calm down, Jack probably knows where he is, ask him.

 

“Hey Jack! You seen Albert?” Elmer yelled from the fire escape down to the street below where Jack was standing, or rather, leaning against the wall.

 

“What? No! I ain’t seen ‘im since this ‘mornin, at the circulation gate. Why? He not back yet?” Jack yelled back up, looking confused.

 

Ohmygod ohmygod ohmygod

 

“No, I havn’t seen ‘im either.” He tried to think of the last place he had seen Albert, they had walked together to his selling spot, and then Albert had gone on to his.

 

“I’m sure he’s fine, if he’s not back by dark then we’ll have a problem, but it’s barely five o’clock yet, he’s still got another half hour... ‘ey is Race up there?”

 

Elmer looked around the bunk room, Race wasn’t in his bunk, and he wasn’t playing poker in his usual spot. Therefore, no, he wasn’t here. “No, he’s not up here!” He yelled down to Jack.

 

“ ‘k he’s probably stayin’ in Brooklyn tonight...” Jack was cut off as York, a runner from Brooklyn ran up to him.

 

Elmer couldn’t hear Jack and Yorks hushed voices from up on the fire escape, so he climbed down to the street, when he got there all he could catch was York, “Race never came back from sheepshead, and if Albert never came back, this sounds like it could be planned....” he trailed off as he saw Elmer jump off the fire escape. Jack turned and looked at him.

 

“Uh... Elm’, maybe you should go inside, this doesn’t have anything to do with you.” He said said softly, and Elmer lost it.

 

“No Jack, ya know what, I am not going to sit back and watch, and listen to secondhand information, when my boyfriend could be dead or dying, I am gonna be a part of this, whether you let me or not, so ya might as well let me.” Elmer exclaimed, he didn’t want to be on the sidelines, especially when someone that he loved was in danger. York gave him an odd look, but then just shrugged and looked away

 

“Fine... fine, ya know what, you’re right, I can’t keep you out of this, so do you have an idea?” Jack conceded.

 

Elmer was honestly a little surprised that Jack had caved that easily, but the easier the better. He thought for a moment, then spoke, “well, York, I heard you say that Race went missing too, could I hear the story behind that?”

 

“Uh... ya so Race was supposed to stay in Brooklyn tonight, but he needed to pickup some winnings from sheepshead, and he just, never came back, Spot was getting worried, so he sent me to check if he came back here for some reason, but clearly he didn’t, so is there anything else that you want me to tell Spot, or should I go now?” York explained.

 

“Tell him your guess, about it being planned, and then I’ll meet him at the bridge tomorrow morning.” Jack told him.

 

“Ok.” He said, already turning his back on them as he began the run back to Brooklyn.

 

Jack turned toward Elemer, “you ok?” He asked putting his hand on the younger boys shoulder.

 

“Well, considering my boyfriend is missing, we’re assuming he was kidnapped, Race is also gone, probably also kidnapped, possibly by the same people, so ya I’m doing just great.” He said, his voice getting quieter as he moved on.

 

“Elmer, we’re gonna get him back... we’re gonna get both of them back, we ain’t gonna abandon them.” Jack said, patting Elmer on the shoulder. “Let’s head inside ok? It’s getting dark.”

 

Elmer nodded, and followed Jack inside, his eyes were focused on the floor, and he was trying not to cry, he couldn’t cry in front of his fellow newsies... his brothers, even though he knew they wouldn’t judge him for it after Jack explained the situation, it could be a sign of weakness. A little over two hours later, with the remaining Manhattan newsies brainstorming ideas, there was a loud banging on the door of the lodging house, Elmer jumped to his feet, with an innocent hopefulness plastered all over his face.

 

Jack was quicker, he stopped Elmer from sprinting to the door, “stay here.” He said with a pat on his shoulder. “Who In the hell is here at this time of night?” He muttered under his breath as he walked over to the door in the next room.

 

There was a muffled conversation, then the door closed and Jack walked back into the room with a scowl on his face. Followed closely by none other than Spot Conlon.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof so that happened.  
> Thoughts, ideas, suggestions, criticism? I could use it all!


	3. Race

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was harder for me to write this chapter then it was the first two for some reason, but idk. The beginning I’d decent I think but then at the end it gets worse by i wrote it at like 2 in the morning.  
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> This is like a super long chapter and I’m really proud of myself.  
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> Sorry 😐

“Race... Race... oh god, wake up! If you’re dead, I swear to god...” was the first thing that Race heard when he slowly regained consciousness.

 

He could see through his eyelids that there was a bright light shining above his head, and, a voice... he knew that voice... Spot? No, too high pitched. Jack? No, also too high pitched...

 

He tried to close his eyes tighter, and turned his head in the general direction of where he thought the voice was coming from... away from the light.

 

“Race! Oh thank god, you’re not dead, are you ok?” The voice asked him... ALBERT! it was Albert! But why was he here? And where was here?

 

“A-Albie?” He asked, his voice cracking. He opened his eyes and what he saw confirmed his guess, his best friends familiar bright red hair, cut relatively short, compared to the other newsies. A pale, freckled face, and light brown eyes that were clouded with worry.

 

He tried to move over to Albert, but soon found that that would be difficult, mostly because his arms and legs were tied to the chair that he was sitting in.

 

“Racer... hey, hey the ropes are tied too tight to move, I already tried.” Albert told him as he tried to slip his hands out of the ropes. “You remember anything? Got any idea why we’re here, tied up...specifically.”

 

Race squinted as he tried to remember anything leading up to this, it made his head hurt just thinking about it. “Not really... you?” He responded.

 

“Well, ‘cause I have such an amazing and detailed memory...” he said sarcastically, “I remember I was walking back to the lodging house, and I saw you laying in one of the alleys, bleeding from the head... how is that by the way? Anyway then one of the queens newsies knocked me out, and then I woke up her ‘bout a half hour ago.”

 

Race suddenly became very aware of a sharp pain on the back of his head, and he could feel warm, sticky blood dripping down the back of his neck. “That still doesn’t explain why I’m here, I mean, I was in Brooklyn, I’s was supposed to stay in Brooklyn tonight, and how’d I get all the way to Manhattan?”

 

“I’m not sure, but you probably have a concussion based on how long you were out for, and how much you can remember, so try to stay awake, you’ll only make it worse if you fall asleep.” Albert replied, worry creeping into his voice. Race could only assume that he knew what he was talking about, he was one of the only Manhattan newsies with any medical knowledge at all.

 

They both fell silent when they heard footsteps walking towards the door. Race didn’t hear any locks unlocked before the door swung open to reveal a tall queens newsie that reminded Race of the description Jack had given him of the leader of the Queens newsies.

 

“Well hello boys!” He said with an evil grin, his voice thick with a queens accent, no surprise.

 

Race and Albert just looked at him for a second, until Albert spoke, “what’d you want. Why’s we here?”

 

Their assumed captor cleared his voice, and then looked at them for a second before he spoke. “‘hatten, you’re here because one of my boys got sloppy and you saw him, yous is here on accident... Race, on the other hand, we knows that you has, let’s say a special relationship with a certain leader of Brooklyn, and if we weres to ah... expose that, who knows what could happen... certainly nothing good.” He said with a sinister grin.

 

Races eyes widened, no one in queens was supposed to know about his and Spots relationship, they could go to jail for being the way they were.

 

At least it seemed that they didn’t know about Alberts relationship with Elmer, they probably actually just grabbed him on accident. He was probably safe... him on the other hand... if queens knew about his relationship with Spot, spot would do anything to get him back, and if queens knew that, their demands wouldn’t be anywhere near reasonable.

 

“What do you want?” He asked, glaring at what he assumed to be the leader of queens.

 

“Oh.. I was hopin’ you would ask that Racer, see our demands are pretty simple, Spot has to give up his title as king of Brooklyn, or else, we kill you, and tell everyone about yous twos relationship... simple really.” He responded with asneer.

 

Damn, he had been right, that wasn’t even close to reasonable. He decided to play dumb. “ ‘an what makes you think that Spot’ll do anything like that just for me?” He asked.

 

“Well, according to my source, in Brooklyn, yous twos relationship is gettin pretty serious, considering yous has been stayin over in Brooklyn more than you’re in ‘hatten... in Spots room, no less.” He said, a smile spreading over his face as he saw Races eyes widen in fear... he was scared, legitimately scared.

 

Well shit, Race thought, if queens had managed to tap one of the Brooklyn Newsies, and they had found out ‘bout this, he didn’t know what else they could have told them, but none of it could have been good. Plus, if one of the Brooklyn Newsies was willing to betray Spot Conlon for this, who knew how many others would be as well.

 

Albert, who had stayed quiet through all of this, finally broke the silence, asking, “so, the only thing I don’t understand ‘bout this is why I’m here, why didn’t you just kill me? Or do ya got some beef with ‘hatten as well?

 

The (assumed) leader of queens looked over at Albert, clearly surprised that he had spoken, but he quickly recovered and moved to answer his question.

 

“Well, see we thought about that, but then we decided that ‘hatten could be like a few bonus points, Brooklyn has been leading the sales for far too long, and ‘hatten has been up there as well, so if we can get 2 Burroughs for the effort of one, well, that’s just too good an opportunity to pass up.”

 

Race internally sighed in relief, not at the prospect of being tortured or killed, or at what Spot must be going through right now, but at the fact that they clearly didn’t know about Albert and Elmer.

 

He was still wondering though... “so... hows is yous planning on getting all this, I mean, Spot and Jack probably think that our disappearances are completely unconnected, and probably havn’t even talked.”

 

The leader of queens, let out a sarcastic snort, oh, you underestimate your boyfriend... he’s already over in Manhattan with Jack cooking up plans to get you back, I’ve sent a runner, they’re going to meet us at the docks tomorrow morning, and that’s where im gonna make my demands.” He stopped a second before continuing, he stared into races eyes, and it seemed that he was staring directly into his soul. “See I’ve been watching you for a while now, been planning this out for months, I’ve thought of every single way that this could go, and it all ends up with me winning.”

 

Race looked at him, “and what makes you think spot or Jack’ll do anything without you proving that we’re actually still alive?” He asked. The leader of queens smirked.

 

“Well, we’s is planning on bringing you two to this meeting, as, let’s just say an incentive for speed on their end.” He answered. “But you can’t make a random demand without at least roughing one of you up a li’l bit, so...” he smiled before yelling down the hall, “oh Sammie! It’s time for you to shine!”

 

A few seconds later, lumbering footsteps could be heard from halfway down the hall, and a few second after that, a very, very big, and muscled Queens newsies walked into the room.

 

“Sammie, I want you to hurt that one.” The leader of queens said, pointing at Race. “But please don’t kill him, we need him for tomorrow.”

 

The big one, Sammie, Race guessed, grunted in acknowledgment, then turned his attention to Race.

 

The leader of queens left the room, the last words he spoke before race stopped bring able to hear were, “bye boys, have fun!! The names Quin by the way!” And then everything went to hell.

 

Albert was yelling, Race was trying to stay quiet, to not show signs of weakness, but it was getting harder by the moment. When Sammie hit him particularly hard in the back of the head, right on his head wound, Race screamed, and then everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts, please, suggestions, oh gosh yes, criticism, it helps me become a better writer! 
> 
> I’m honestly doing this because I want to, and I think that I’ll be able to finish it, hopefully...  
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> I might end up having to take a teeny tiny hiatus to catch up on school work, but it only be for like two weeks... maybe.


	4. Spot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, this is a long one guys.  
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> Also, i pass 5k words in this chapter, so I think that’s an accomplishment!  
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> Enjoy! 😊

~~~~~~~~Spot~~~~~~~~~

As Spot followed the king of Manhattan into their lodging house, he could immediately feel all eyes on him. Then just as quickly, they all went to Jack, he shrugged, “Spot wants to help.” He answered their un-vocalized question simply.

 

The room was silent. Then finally, a small boy curled up on the couch spoke. “Thanks.” His voice was scratchy, like he had been crying, and his face was red. The other boys on the couch were close, but they were also giving him space. He was probably Albert’s boyfriend.

 

All eyes turned to him, and they were all clearly just as surprised as Spot that the kid had spoke. “Uhhh... you’re welcome, I guess.? Spot replied, the stares turned to him, no one would have guessed that the king of Brooklyn had anything close to manners.

 

Jack cleared his throat, “Well, uh Spot... I gues you’ll be wantin to know everybody’s names,” he started saying names as he pointed to some of the boys. “JoJo,” a boy with soft brown eyes and equally brown hair, “Specs” a boy with glasses, “Kid Blink” a kid with an eyepatch, “Tommy boy,” a short, but well muscled boy, “finch” a kid who was messing with a slingshot, “Crutchie” a boy with a crutch, “mike and Ike” a set of twins... Jack continued, but Spot started to zone out as he studied the boy who had spoken before... “and Elmer,”Jack said, pointing at the boy, “he’s Alberts boyfriend in case yous hadn’t figured that out yet.”

 

“Uhhh.. well, ok.” Spot said, looking around at they boys, he had caught a little over half of their names, he decided that if he could get Race out of this, he could learn all of their names, and he could get race out of this.

 

Jack started speaking, “Well, so we came up with a few ideas, on what we could do, but none of them really seem like they could work...”

 

“Lemme hear ‘em anyway, I need ideas.” Spot said, and Jack nodded at finch to start talking, his idea started with going to the other Burroughs and just asking, but he didn’t get to finish because he was cut off by a loud, harsh banging on the lodging house door.

 

Spot noticed Elmer perk up a little bit, but just as quickly, he was back curled into a ball, in indefinite silence.

 

Jack groaned, “again?” and went to answer the door.

 

Spot could hear Jack start to argue with the person, and eventually the door closed, and Jack slowly walked back into the room, a somber expression on his face. He noticed a crumpled piece of paper in Jacks hand, with jacks fist closed tightly around it.

 

“What was that?” JoJo asked, clearly wondering what everyone else had been thinking, ‘what had that been about?’

 

“It was a runner from queens, he said...” he paused and looked at Spot and Elmer for a second before continuing, “he said that queens has Race and Albert, and that their demands would be made clear tomorrow morning, and then he shoved this into my hand,” he held up the fist with the paper in it, “and then ran off.”

 

Spot took a second to comprehend this, his brain started thinking of what Race could be going through right now, but before he could get to the bad stuff, he quickly asked, “Well didja read the paper yet Jackie?” His voice quiet.

 

“No.. I almost don’t want to...” jack responded, looking at the floor, voice somber.

 

“Ohmygod, Jack just give it here,” Elmer’s voice was heard, with sarcasm, but also fear creeping into it. “I’ll read it.”

 

“Elm, you sure, I mean, I kno-“ jack tried to speak, but was cut off by Elmer, who’s voice was getting louder and more desperate by the minute.

 

“No! Jack just give it to me... now!” Elmer half yelled.

 

Jack crossed the room quickly and, without another word, handed the paper to Elmer.

 

Elmer cleared his throat and began to read, “Spot and Jack, by now, you know that we has something of yours, and if you want it back, you’ll meet us by the docks tomorrow morning, just you two, no one else, no set ups.” He paused and looked at Spot. “P.S- Spot, we know about you and Race.”

 

The room was so silent, you could hear a pin drop. Then, Jack spoke, “Well Spot, I guess we’re gonna be at the docks tomorrow morning.” He paused, thinking, “we might as well all go to bed now, there’s nothing we can do but hope.” And most of the newsies got up and went upstairs to the bunk room with no complaints. Spot and Elmer however, stayed.

 

They looked at each other not really knowing why the other one was here. After a second, they both shrugged and looked over at Jack, who seemed to have already guessed what each of them was going to say.

 

“Elmer, you can go first, cause I know that Spot is gonna take forever and you need sleep.” He said, giving Spot a look that said ‘you better shut up and let ‘in talk.’.

 

“Jack you can’t expect me to not go to this meeting, Albie is my boyfriend and he’s been kidnapped, he could be hurt, I need to see him, and I’m not going to work tomorrow anyway because I’m going to end up sitting here all day anyway. Please let me go, I need to see him... please...” Elmer said, his voice getting more and more desperate as he went on.

 

Jack sighed, “Elmer, we really can’t do that, bec-“

 

Elmer interrupted him, “but Jack-“

 

Jack interrupted Elmer again, “no. Elmer listen, none of us want to get Albert back more than you, I know that... we all know that, but you going just puts Albert in more danger. The note specifically says just Spot and I, no one else. If we bring you, or try to smuggle you in or something and they find out, they could kill either of them. So no, I’m sorry Elmer you can’t come.”

 

Elmer huffed, “fine.” And he went off in the direction of the bunk room.

 

Jack sighed quietly, “I’m gonna have to have someone stay back to watch him, he’ll somehow get Race or Albert killed.”

 

“Wait, you don’t think queens will actually kill either of them, do you?” Spot had really just assumed that they would be able to get both of them back without actually meeting their demands, but the more he thought about it, the more worried he got.

 

“I don’t know Spot, I really don’t, I havn’t had to talk to queens in years, they’ve stayed within their boundaries, and they havn’t made any moves, there hasn’t been any reason to suspect them of anything.”Jack responded, sitting down on the couch and putting his head in his hands.

 

“Well, I wouldn’t have actually taken that long to talk, but we need to have a plan for tomorrow, I mean, do you have any ideas at what they even want, or like are we gonna try to get them back, or will we actually do what they want?” Spot asked. He didn’t know what he would do if he didn’t get Race back, they had so many memories together, illegal memories, but memories all the same. He had

 

“I don’t know, I mean, like i said, i havn’t talked to queens, so I don’t know what their leader is like, or what he’ll do, so we’ll kinda just have to play it by ear, hope that it all goes well, and just try not to worry too much.” Jack said, rubbing his temples.

 

“Jack did you actually just tell me to not worry about it, seriously, my boyfriend was kidnapped in Brooklyn, that means queens knew that he was gonna be in Brooklyn tonight, nobody knew that he was gonna be in Brooklyn except for you boys and mine, that means that someone that we trust is a rat.” Spot exclaimed, his voice getting louder, “he could be dead Jack, and you’re telling me not to worry?” He yelled, then he sat down on the couch and buried his face in his hands, trying not to cry.

 

The king of Brooklyn didn’t cry, not even when he was alone, let alone in front of the leader of Manhattan.

 

“Ok, ok, Spot, I’m sorry, but look, we really can’t plan anything right now, we don’t know what they know or what they want. We all ready know they they know about you and Race, that’s clear, but we don’t know if they know about Albert and Elmer, they could have just grabbed Albert as extra leverage.” Jack said.

 

Spot completely understood this, It made total sense, he tried to calm his breathing. It made no sense to put more people in danger by going out there and being reckless, he needed to let Jack make the plans, he wasn’t emotionally touched by this, he could think straight.

 

“Fine, ya know what, you’re right... you’re right. You can make the plans, you can think straight, I can’t.” Spot said, he noticed Jacks face looking confused as he spoke, it was a rare feat to see the king of Brooklyn admitting he was wrong.

 

“But can I uh... stay the night here? It would make more sense, and I don’t think it would be a good idea to go back to Brooklyn right now.” He said, gesturing to the window, which showed that it was pitch black out.

 

“Sure, there’s an extra bunk that no ones using in the bunk room. Or I guess you can sleep on Races if you feel like that might help you or something.” Jack responded, pointing over to the door to the bunk room, which was silent now. It seemed that everyone had gone to sleep.

 

“Thanks.” Spot said, getting up and walking over to the door that Jack had indicated. He unconsciously walked over to Races bunk, quietly climbing up to races bed.

 

He could hear jack follow him in, and lay down on his bunk, on the other side of the room. Spot also layed down, drinking in the smell of Races cigar, and just races smell. It was surprisingly comforting at this point.

 

He fell asleep, the last thought in his head, ‘what were they doing to Race?’

 

The next morning.

“Spot, get up.”

 

Spot woke up to a very unfamiliar voice for this early in the morning. Groaning, he opened his eyes and saw Jack.... Why.

 

“Whys you here, too early, go away.”

 

Then all the memories from yesterday came pouring back into his head, and he bolted upright. “Shit.”

 

“I woke you up ‘fore all the other fellas, you’re welcome. Ya got 3 minutes before I wake Everyone else up.” Jack said, and walked away.

 

Spot sighed, hopefully, this would all be over by noon.

 

He climbed off of Races bunk, no use putting it off. To be honest, he was absolutely terrified, he knew that there was no way Race was gonna be smart about what he said to them, so he’d probably end up more beat up than he would’ve ended up because of his dumbass mouth.

 

But he couldn’t let anyone, not even Jack, see what he was feeling. He had become very good at keeping his emotions inside his brain, and the only person he had really ever showed emotions too was Race.

 

While he had been thinking about this, he had unconsciously walked out of the bunk room and into the, ahhh what would you call it? Living room?

 

Jack was already out there, “ok, so ima go wake everyone else up and put Finch in charge, and then we can leave. The sooner we leave, the less chance Elmer will follow us.” He said, and then left the room and began banging on bunks and yelling, “GET UP FELLAS! FINCH IS IN CHARGE!” and once he was satisfied with the amount of people up, he came back into the room.

 

“Ok, let’s go.” Jack said quietly, before Elmer could come out and try to follow them.

 

Spot followed Jack out of the lodging house and towards the docks. They walked past buildings, all ready bustling with people, getting ready for work. They walked over the bridge, and saw one of Spots newsies, Sammie, standing on the other side of the bridge, shifting from foot to foot nervously.

 

Spot called out to him, “Sammie, what’s up?” The boy looked up, and jumped, clearly surprised to see Jack and Spot there.

 

“Uh well you see, we was out at the circulation gate, and we all saw this queens newsies that none of us recognized, so ya know, we asked him why he was there, and told him that he needed to get off our turf, and all that shit, but then he said that he was just surveying his soon to be territory, and of course, we was all real confused, and then he just walked away.” Sammie paused before he continued, “and sos we all just brushed it off, and we went and got in line for papes, and none of use was watching outside the gate, but then York started yelling ‘bout how two queens newsies, plus that one that was standin’ outside the gate were walkin over toward the gate with one guy that we didn’t recognize and he was kinda helping another one what kinda looked like race but he couldn’t tell because there was a bunch of blood, and they were headin toward the docks, and so York sent me to catch you and tell you before you got back.

 

Spot and Jack gaped at him, the queens newsies were that stupid? Transporting race and Albert in front of the Brooklyn circulation gate. “Ah ok, thanks Sammie, I’ll remember that.” Spot responded, finally recovering from the shock.

 

Sammie nodded, “sure” and ran off in the direction of his selling spot.

 

“Uh, so that happened.” Jack said

 

“Jack do you know what this means, it means that they’re so confident that they’ll get what they want that they were literally willing to parade race and Albert in front of all the Brooklyn newsies. And if there was too much blood to tell if it was Race, then it was probably race.” Spot started to hyperventilate, just thinking of what they might have done to him, and how much worse he made it by opening his dumb mouth.

 

Just then, they made it to the docs, and they noticed a thin trail of blood leading further into the docks.

 

Spot let out a gasp... so much for not showing any emotions.

 

Jack pointed, “ya think we should follow it, or you think this is a trap.”

 

“Follow it.” Spot said matter of factly. Even if it was a trap, this meant that Race was here somewhere, and he was willing to take that chance.

 

As they walked deeper into the docs, Spot started to hear a faint heavy breathing, faint, but it was there. Then, as they rounded a corner, they saw a sight that spot had not expected to see. A boy with bright red hair, that he could only assume to be Albert, somewhat supporting a slumped over Race, who was either, unconscious, or barely conscious.

 

The boy, Albert, looked up as soon as they rounded the corner, his eyes widened and he threw up his hand and half yelled, “Jack stop, just stop, if you come any closer-“

 

He was cut off by a low voiceright behind Spots ear, “walk forward, and stop when I tell you to. Or your boyfriend gets it.”

 

Spot looked over and saw someone right behind Jack as well, he started to walk forward, he got about four feet. And then the voice said “Stop.”

 

The person behind Spot walked around him and put himself between the two newsies, and Jack and Spot, but the other newsie behind jack backed up and blocked the entrance to the area they were in.

 

Race, oh god, Race, seemed to be slowly waking up, and Albert seemed to be whispering things in his ear. Slowly, he lifted his head, and when he saw Spot, his eyes widened, and he opened his fucking dumbass mouth, and he just had to yell, “Spot, yous got a rat in brookl-“

 

He was cut off, by the newsie in front of Jack and Spot turning around, and slamming his fist into Races gut.

 

Race shouted, and, being a dumbass, he tried to stand up, as though he was gonna fight the other guy, but as he put weight on his right foot, he yelled in pain, and dropped to the ground. As he fell, he hit his head on the crate that he was standing in front of, and then he just kinda, sat there, looking dazed.

 

The newsie between them turned his attention back to Jack and Spot, “Well, yous both knows why yous is here, we have something you want, and it’s gonna come at a price.”

 

“Whaddaya want.” Jack asked inpatiently.

 

“It’s simple really, we want you to let queens, take over your Burroughs, not that hard. You have a week, or we kill both of them.” He gestured to Race and Albert behind him, who were by then, both sitting on the ground, leaning on the crates behind them.

 

Spots jaw dropped, “you have got to be joking... that’s years of leadership right there, and you want me to wrap that up on a week?”

 

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” The queens newsie shrugged.

 

“You have to give us five minutes alone, with Race and Albert. Then... we’ll do it.” Jack said. Spot had almost forgotten that he was there due to the lack of talking.

 

“You can have three, and I’m not leaving you alone, I’ll leave, but they stay.” He said, gesturing to the two guards standing by the entrance to the area.

 

“Fine.” Spot said. “Go.”

 

The queens newsies walked away, and as he passed his guards, he whispered something to them.

 

As soon as he was gone, Spot and Jack ran over to the two other newsies. Jack to Albert and Spot to Race.

 

“Racer... hey, Racer can ya hear me?” Spot asked, putting his hand on Races shoulder and shaking him lightly.

 

Race groaned, “Spottie?”

 

“Yeah, yeah it’s me... how ya feelin?” Spot asked again.

 

“His right ankles broken, and I’m pretty sure he has a concussion. He hasn’t been able to walk, and he seems really confused.” Albert interupted them.

 

“Ok thanks. Uh Racer, can ya look at me?” Spot questioned

 

Races head slowly came up, and his bright blue eyes met Spots, and Spot very nearly lost it right there. He looked so scared and confused.

 

“mmm, my ankle hurts, where am i?” He asked Spot.

 

“Your ankles broken babe, there’s nothing I can really do right now, but as soon as we get you back, we’ll fix it, ok.” Spot responded.

 

“You can’t give up brooklyn for me Spot, there are so many other kids that need you, I’m not worth that.” Race muttered.

 

“Hey, hey, hey, no, you can’t think like that, we’ll get you back somehow, ok?” Spot whispered into Races ear as he pulled him into a hug. Race melted into him.

 

Spot pulled back abruptly, as the leader of queens, at least spot assumed he was the leader, walked back in, “times up! Now leave. Have fun wrapping up your leadership!” He said with a sing-songy voice.

 

Jack had to pull Spot up from where he was crouched in front of Race. They walked away and out of the area that they had been trapped in for that short amount of time.

 

“I’ll get you back Race! I promise.” Spot yelled back to Race as he walked away.

 

They walked in silence for a few minutes, and when they were sure that they were out of earshot, Spot said, “So, you wanna, follow them and see where they’re keeping them?”

 

“Ya. If that’s what Race looks like after one night, I don’t wanna know what they’ll do to him after a week. And you know we can’t give up our Burroughs, that would be almost impossible.” Jack responded.

 

They had just walked out of the docks area, so they looked around for a place that they wouldn’t be seen in, but they could see when they moved Albert and Race.

 

There was a stack of crates that worked perfectly for that. They hid behind them and waited. Minutes passed, and then finally, one of the guards walked out, and looked around to make sure there was no one around. Once he was sure there was no one around, he turned around and nodded to the people behind him.

 

The leader of queens came out next, followed by Albert and Race, who was leaning heavily on Albert for support, and not putting any weight on his right leg. They were followed by the other guard, probably to make sure they didn’t try anything.

 

Once they were far enough ahead, Spot and Jack quietly followed them, staying a safe distance behind, but also making sure that they wouldn’t loose them.

 

The followed them through the twists and turns of the city blocks, and across the queens border.

 

Thankfully, they didn’t have to go far into queens before they went into a building on the corner of a street. It looked abandoned, like no one had entere in years.

 

This had to be where they were keeping them.

 

Spot tapped jack on the shoulder to get his attention, and the gestured back the way they came, towards Brooklyn. Jack nodded, and they started to walk back.

 

Once they made it back into Brooklyn, miraculously with out being spotted by a queens newsie,Spot turned to Jack.

 

“We’re going in tonight. Go back to ‘hatten, get three or four boys, and come back to the Brooklyn lodging house.”Spot said.

 

Jack nodded, then turned, and ran off. Spot turned to make his way back to the Brooklyn lodging house, and took a deep breath.

 

This would work, they were going to get them back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I set this and said that it was gonna be 7 chapters, but it might go to eight. Idk. I’m close to the end tho!
> 
> I think that ima make this like a series, like ima finish this, and take a break, but then I’ll somehow start it up again. 
> 
> As always, thoughts, suggestions, criticism is always welcome! I hope to become a better writer by doing this, so... thanks!


	5. Albert

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok. I don't really know if this chapter is any good. But here ya go.
> 
> I wrote most of this today, and I didn't really edit, but I used spellcheck. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> Enjoy?? Maybe??

~~~~~~~~Albert~~~~~~~~~  
Race didn’t look too good. His usually blonde hair was almost completely red from blood, and his ankle was bent at an angle that it definitely wasn’t supposed to be at. 

He had at least passed out, and hadn’t been conscious for most of it. Sammie, as ordered, hadn’t touched him, just Race, but it had probably hurt Albert mentally, about as much as it hurt Race physically. 

Watching his best friend since they were seven be essentially tortured, barely four feet from him, and Albert couldn’t do anything. They had grown up together. 

After a long time, Albert didn’t know how much, time passed slowly when you didn’t have Race to crack jokes and make sarcastic comments. A different newsie, probably from queens, came in and untied the ropes that tied Alberts arms and legs to the chair. Then untied Races. 

Race still hadn’t woken up after passing out hours earlier, so the queens newsie kicked his presumably broken ankle. Race’s head snapped up and he let out a groan of pain. 

“Up.” The Queens newsie snapped, “we’s moving.” 

“Are you dumb, he can’t walk.” Albert snapped back, gesturing at Race.

“We yous better figure that out, or we’ll kill ‘im.” The newsie said with a evil grin. Then left the room. “Oh,” he called from the hallway, “and don’t think of tryin to escape, we got guards everywhere.” 

Albert watched him leave, then looked at Race, who was looking around, very obviously confused. “Race, hey, we have to move, ok, so you need to stand up, you can lean on me, but I can’t carry you.” 

“Al... whys you here, where are we?” Race asked, looking around, “my head hurts.” 

“Well I mean, that I expected, you probably have a concussion. Hey wai-“ Race cut Albert off as he tried to stand, put weight on his broken ankle, yelled out in pain, and fell back into his chair. 

“Dumbass, your ankles broken, ok, so you can use me as kinda, a crutch.” Albert said.

“Mmm... like crutchie...” Race muttered. At this point he was barely conscious, and Albert could tell that if he didn’t start moving he’d probably pass out again. 

“Yes, liKe crutchie, now get up.” Albert said, grabbing Races arm and slinging it over his shoulder, effectively pulling Race up and keeping weight off his ankle. 

“Wheres we going... wait...” he stopped. “Where. Is. My. Cigar.” 

Albert sighed. Even concussed, he only thought of his cigar. “Race, I don’t know where your cigar is, it's probably over at the lodging house.” He said.

“Noooooo... I need my cigah.” Race whined loudly.

“Race no, we don’t have one, we need to go now.” Albert told him as he started to pull Race out the door, and Race reluctantly limped along beside him. 

“Took you long enough.” Sammie said, chewing on a cigar.

Albert realised what Race was going to do, right before he did it. 

“HeY tHaTS mY cIGaH.” 

“Well, it’s mine now.” Sammie said, and then turned and walked down the hall.

“He... took my cigah.” Race said in a voice that made it sound like someone had just killed a dog.

“Oh my god Race, come on. Spot can get you hundreds of cigars.” Albert told him, practically daring him to argue.

As they walked down the hall, or more hopped in Races case. Albert heard hushed whispering in the room on the left that Sammie gone into. Albert made the executive decision to go into the room, seeing that Race wasn’t really going to have any opinions at the moment. 

“Good, you’re here, wes is going to the docks in Brooklyn. That’s where they’re meeting us.” The leader of queens said.

“Um, who’s meeting us at the docks.” Albert asked, even though he had a sneaking suspicion that it was Jack and Spot. 

“You’ll see.” One of the other newsies said, and then they all turned and left the room, except for one newsie that gestured at them to move, “you didn’t think they we’d let you be in the back and just slip away did you.” He said with a sneer.

Albert groaned and started moving. They walked out of the room, and out of the building pretty much without incident, except for when Race started stumbling and mumbling about a royal flush and cigars.

They got out of Queens, and Albert was hoping that one of the Brooklyn Newsies would recognize Race, and help them, but it was too early for anyone to be out yet. The only other thing that could help them was if they walked by the circulation gate and someone saw them, but at this point Albert was practically carrying Race, and Races hair was so red that no one would recognize his blonde hair.

They were getting closer and closer to the circulation gate, and Albert was starting to think that they might actually go past it. Then they turned into an ally and his hopes dissolved. The leader of queens looked at Albert, and then spoke.

“Ok, wes is going to be passing the Brooklyn circulation gate, and if either of you try anything, we’ll kill you. It’s that simple.” He said, and then shouldered past Albert, and went out of the ally.

Well there went his plan. 

He followed the queens newsies out of the ally, and after they walked another block, he could see the circulation gate, and he could hear newsies yelling and laughing.

Then they walked out into the full view of the entire population of Brooklyn newsies. Albert didn’t look because, ya know, there’s that small fact that he didn’t want to die.

But then he heard someone yelling in the circulation gate, “Hey... hey who are they? Is that Race? Where’s Spot?”

And then they had passed. Albert could still hear a commotion near the circulation gate, but nobody came.

They walked another 3 blocks and ended up at the docks, in an area that looked like it had been purposely left empty. Almost like a room, with no ceiling.

“Yous are gonna stay here and we’re gonna go back there,” the leader of queens pointed to a place behind some boxes that they could watch from, “and when they get here, we’re gonna surround them.” 

“Fine, be that way.” Albert muttered. Race just mumbled incoherently.

The queens newsies went behind the boxes that he had indicated earlier.

Minutes passed, Race slowly became slightly more coherent, and he started to make sense in his random rambling.

“What are we doing? Why does my ankle hurt? Where are w-? Race was cut off as they heard two sets of footsteps, then seconds later, Jack and Spot walked around the corner. 

Spots eyes widened at the sight of Races blood stained hair, and Jack just looked confused. Albert tried to warn them, before they were trapped, “Jack stop, just stop, if you come any closer-“ 

But he was too late. The two queens newsies walked up behind Jack and Spot and whispered something in their ears. Jack and Spot walked forward about 3 feet and then stopped.

“Ok Racer, Spot and Jack are here, but please don’t do anything stupid, because that would probably be ba-“ Albert was whispering into Races ear, but race cut him off as he wheezed.

“Spot...rat in Brooklyn... gotta tell ‘im.” 

No no no no no why couldn’t Race shut up for five minutes. 

Race tried to stand on his broken ankle as he yelled, “Spot, yous got a rat in brookl-“ 

He was cut off by one of the newsies that had told Jack and Spot something punching him in the gut. Of course. 

Race fell to the ground and hit his head on one of the crates behind him, then just sat there looking dazed.

Oh god, he was so dumb. He was going to end up with permanent brain damage from this.

Albert sunk to the ground next to Race and just tried to calm him down. 

“Ok Racer, calm down, ok? Jack and Spot are gonna get us out of this, ya just gotta trust them.”

The leader of queens was talking to Jack and Spot now, probably making his demands. 

Albert hoped that they had a plan, because there was no way that either of them could afford to lose their positions.

The leader of queens had stopped talking, and it seemed like Spot was arguing with him now. Albert just caught the last part of what he said, “-and you want me to wrap that up on a week?” 

The leader of queens smugly said, “I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” 

Then Jack finally spoke, “You have to give us five minutes alone, with Race and Albert. Then... we’ll do it.” Spot seemed to look over in surprise, like he had forgotten that Jack was there.

“You can have three, and I’m not leaving you alone, I’ll leave, but they stay.” The leader of queens said, gesturing to the two newsies guarding the entrance.

“Fine, go.” Spot said.

The leader of queens left, and Spot rushed over to Race and Jack to Albert.

“Hey. You ok?” Jack asked as he kneeled down in front of Albert. 

“Yeah, they didn’t touch me, just Race.” He replied, then leaned over to Spot, “His right ankles broken, and I’m pretty sure he has a concussion. He hasn’t been able to walk, and he seems really confused.”

“Uh, ok thanks.” Spot said, then returned to his conversation with Race.

“Please tell me you have a plan, because Race can’t keep his mouth shut, and I don’t think he’ll be fine if you don’t get us out of there soon.” Albert told him.

“Well, I mean we don’t really...” Jack said sheepishly, “But do you remember where you were in queens, we could try to come get you tonight.”

“Uh no, sorry, I was too busy making Race not fall over.” Albert replied sarcastically. 

“Ok... well, we’ll, figure something out.” Jack said.

“How’s Elmer?” Albert asked.

“He’s doing better then I would have expected, given the circumstances.” Jack replied.

“Ok tell him I’m ok, please.” Albert told him.

“Yeah, definitely.” Jack promised.

“You better not give up Manhattan for us Jack.” Albert said warningly.

“I won’t, unless I absolutely have to.” Jack replied.

“OKayyyy times up, now leave. Have fun wrapping up your leadership!” the leader of queens practically bounced back into the makeshift room.

Jack got up slowly, and then had to physically pull Spot away from Race. 

“I’ll get you back Race! I promise!” Spot yelled back to Race as Jack pulled him out of the area. 

 

About a minute after Jack and Spot left, the leader of queens walked up to Albert and Race. 

“Up, we’re movin’” He snapped. “Car, you go first and make sure they aren’t trying to follow us, and boots, go behind and make sure we aren’t followed by anyone.”

Albert snorted, and one of the newsies, ‘Car’ looked at him.

“Something funny?” He asked menacingly.

“Yous is tellin me that your name… is Car?” Albert asked.

The newsie groaned and turned away, “You’re lucky he told us not to hurt you ‘hatten, otherwise, you’d be dead.”

Albert got up and then pulled Race up and let him use his shoulder, as a crutch, again.

“I wanna go home.” He whisper-whined. 

“I know, Jack and Spot are gonna get us out of this, ok? We’re gonna be fine.” Albert told him quietly. Then the leader of queens seemed to get confirmation that no one was out there, and he turned to the two captives.

“Move.” 

Albert complied. He hoped that Jack and Spot were going to follow them, hopefully find out where they were, and maybe get them out.

They walked out of the docks with ‘Car’ in front, the leader of queens after him, then Race and Albert, and after them, ‘Boots’’.

The walk back to queens was very uneventful, and it seemed like they had specifically planned for no one to be selling in this area at all that day. 

They crossed the border into queens, and walked about three blocks, then went into an old building that looked completely abandoned.

The newsie, ‘Boots’ pushed them back into the room, and then turned around, walked out, then presumably locked the door based on the screeching sound of a lock being locked.

Albert set Race down, on the ground this time, and tried to calm down. Race was fine, kinda, mentally? Probably not, and his ankle wasn’t good, but he had passed out almost as soon as Albert had set him down. 

Albert could feel his brain start to shut down, he was so tired. So he let his eyes close, and the darkness come with it.

~~~~8 hours later~~~~~

Albert woke to one Race, who suddenly seemed more conscious than he had all day, shaking him.

“Albie, I think something's happening.” He said, a look of concern on his face.

And just then, Albert started to register the noises coming from outside the room.

There was yelling. It almost sounded like a fight was happening out there.

Albert almost grinned. “I bet thats them.”

Just then, the two goons from earlier, ‘Car’, and ‘Boots’, rushed in, grabbed both of them, and put them into chokeholds, then put something cold and sharp against their necks.

This all happened very quickly, and neither of them had any time to react, let alone fight back.

“Where are they you bastard?” he heard a familiar voice yell.

That would be Spot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “HeY tHaTS mY cIGaH.”
> 
>  
> 
> Thoughs, Suggestions, Criticism? Please?
> 
> IDK if this chapter is good, It was honestly kinda hard for me to write, so idk.


	6. Jack

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, I know this is late, I was super busy, and I did it have time to finish it by Monday.  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> The ending is super awkward, ok it was really hard to write and idk.  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~  
> ~   
> Sorry 😐

When he and Spot has gotten back to Brooklyn, and Spot had told him to go get some boys, and that they were going in tonight, Jack had immediately started thinking about the big question. Who to bring.

 

Normally he would have brought Race, and Albert and been done with it, but since neither of them were a option, he needed to actually think about it.

 

He would probably have Elmer come. If he tried to tell him not to come again, he would probably follow them and come anyway. Maybe Finch, he was decent in a fight, and definitely Tommy Boy, he won most of the fights that he managed to get himself into.

 

As he walked back across the bridge, he was surprised to see Elmer at the other end. He jogged the rest of the way there, and when he was within earshot, he called, “Hey Elmer, yous is supposed to be selling. What’re you doin here?”

 

Elmer rolled his eyes, “you expected me to sell today, like this? In my emotional state.”

 

Jack shrugged.

 

“Is Al ok? Is he hurt?” Elmer asked. His voice suddenly growing frantic.

 

“He’s fine, they didn’t touch him, ok?” Jack said. Then noticing that Elmer looked like he hadn’t slept in a week, he continued, “Hey, why don’t we go back to lodging, I need your input on something.”

 

Elmer sniffed, “I guess we can.”

 

As they walked back, they passed both Tommy Boy and Finch, and Jack got them to come with by promising to pay for their remaining papes.

 

The walk was silent.

 

When they got back to the lodging house, Finch finally broke the silence. “So what’s the news?” He asked tentatively, fidgeting with his slingshot.

 

“Uh, so, Albert’s fine. I don’t think they’re gonna hurt him,” Jack looked at Elmer, who was still tense, but seemed to unconsciously breathe a sigh of relief. “but Race isn’t, his ankles broken, and we’re pretty sure he has a concussion.-“

 

“Well we gotta get ‘em back then!” Tommy Boy said.

 

“I was getting to that, calm down... Spot and I followed them, they’re keeping them in queens in an abandoned building, and we’re going to get them tonight. you three are coming.” Jack continued.

 

“Ok, so when are we going?” Finch asked.

 

“Uh, now.” Jack answered. “We’re meeting Spot at the Brooklyn lodging house, so... let’s get going, otherwise we’re not going to make it back before sunset.”

 

Elmer stood, and finally spoke for the first time in the conversation, “ok, let’s go.”

 

So the went. Out of the lodging house, across the bridge, and the three or four blocks after the bridge to the Brooklyn lodging house.

 

The walk was mostly silent for Jack and Elmer, but Tommy Boy and Finch were quietly conversing behind them.

 

 

When they reached the Brooklyn lodging house, it was just before dark, and Spot was waiting outside with three of his newsies. As Jack, Tommy Boy, and Finch walked up to him, he started talking.

 

“Jack, we is gonna bring them both back here. There’s no way Racer can make it all the way back to ‘hatten with his leg, and Red over there knows a few medical things and shit.”

 

“Ok...” Jack responded. Spot almost looked surprised, as though he didn’t think that it would be that easy. “Well you’re right, I mean Race is gonna need medical attention, and Albert hopefully will just need to rest, and it’ll be too dark to get them all the way back to Manhattan.”

 

“Alright, and we’ll get a plan set up when we get there, but it’ll probably just be to punch people and not kill either of ‘em.” Spot finished, then gestured to his newsies, “they’re good at the punching part.”

 

“Yeah,” Jack responded, “But we should probably get going, I don’t wanna be out that late, and we can come up with a plan on our way there. But just one thing, are they good at being quiet?”

 

Spot shrugged, “kinda? I guess? What ‘bout them?” He asked, pointing at Elmer, Finch, and Tommy Boy, who were all relatively small.

 

“Well Finch and Elmer are both pretty quiet on a regular basis, but Tommy Boy is good at actually sneaking around.” Jack responded, gesturing to each of his newsies as he said their names.

 

Spot nodded, “ok, let’s get going.” Then he walked off.

 

Jack nodded to his newsies, who were looking at him for approval before leaving, and then walked after Spot, who’s newsies had already went after him.

 

Jack had to jog behind Spot to catch up with him, when he caught up with him he said, “Spot, talking involves being near the other person.”

 

Spot flipped him off before speaking.

 

“Ok sos I was thinking that a good plan would be to just to have Finch and Elmer, you said they was quiet right?” Jack nodded, “ok so we have them go over to the building, see if they can see anything through the windows or something, and then we just kinda go in there, surprise them, and I don’t know, try not to kill anyone, I don’t wanna declare war on queens, and then get Race and Albert out of there and leave.”

 

Jack tried, he really tried to come up with a better plan, but he really couldn’t, “Fine. But we’re only sending Finch and Elmer if they’re ok with it. I’m not forcing Elmer to do anything.”

 

“Fine.”

 

Then they crossed the border into queens and everyone went silent. They knew if they got caught they would probably be able to get away, but they would rather not have to.

 

As they walked in the darkness, the only thing Jack could hear was their footsteps echoing on the walls around them.

 

Finally after walking about 4 blocks, he saw the building. There were two lights on inside. One in the front window, which seemed insanely stupid, because it was super bright, and one in one of the side windows, but that one was very dim.

 

The eight of them ducked into an ally, the other six newsies looked at Jack and Spot expectedly.

 

Spot spoke first, his voice just barely above a whisper, “K, so we’re gonna have you two go over there and see if you can see anything through the windows, but don’t get spotted.” He pointed at Finch and Elmer as he spoke, “Once you’re done, we’re gonna just break down the door and go in. And don’t punch anyone who looks remotely like Race because he’s pretty messed up right now, and also don’t punch anyone with red hair.” He directed that last point at his newsies, who nodded.

 

“Unless of course, that person with red hair is trying to kill you, in which case, please don’t die.” Jack interjected. Then looked at Elmer, “yous ok to do this?” He asked.

 

Elmer shrugged.

 

Apparently that was good enough for Spot, because soon after, Elmer and Finch were almost being pushed out of the ally, Jack wanted to watch out of the ally, but he knew that would just be dangerous.

 

After about five minutes, Finch and Elmer came back into the ally. Elmer just sat down against the wall, and didn’t speak, Finch on the other hand, spoke.

 

“Ok sos we looked in the window with more lights and there’s like five guys in there around a table playing poker, and then in the darker room we couldn’t see much, but there were two bodies on the floor, but I’m pretty sure they were just sleeping.”

 

Jack was pretty sure that they wouldn’t kill either of them before they got what they wanted, but even so, it still worried him.

 

It was silent for a few minutes.

 

“Ok, we’ll then we should probably get going.” Spot said suddenly, getting up.

 

Jack could tell that Spot was really trying not to show emotion, and he was doing a pretty good job, but if you really tried to listen, you could hear a strain in his voice.

 

The rest of Spots newsies got up and followed him, then came Finch and Elmer walking together, and then Jack a few feet behind them.

 

Jack watched as Spot legitimately just kicked down the door, then he could see shadows moving around in the brightly lit room.

 

Spot was punching someone almost as soon as he was in the house. The rest of the newsies they had brought were all ready fighting people and they seemed to be doing fine as Jack walked in.

 

So Jack ran down the hallway to the room that he was pretty sure they were keeping Race and Albert.

 

Spot knocked out the person he had been fighting as Jack ran by, and joined him at the door of the room that Jack was now positive was the right room. He could hear Race talking inside.

 

“Hey get offa me. Leave me alone.”

 

Which meant that he was at least starting to be able to think clearly, which was good.

 

Spot pushed the door open, and Jack stifled a gasp, and he heard Spot do the same.

 

Race and Albert were both being held in choke-holds, with knifes against their necks.

 

Jack saw Races eyes widen when he saw Spot, and so did Alberts.

 

“Spot?” Race said softly.

 

The newsie who had Race in a choke hold kicked Races ankle, causing Race to hiss in pain, (he was clearly trying to be strong for Spot). “Shut up lover boy”

 

“Don’t fucking touch him.” Spot growled.

 

“If you want them to stay alive, you’ll leave, and get what we want.” The newsie holding Albert said.

 

As he was talking, Elmer, Finch, and Spots newsies came up behind them. Jack could hear an audible gasp from Elmer, then he went running out of the building.

 

Jack turned to go after him, but Spot held him back and muttered under his breath, “stay here. I’m not leaving without them.”

 

This standoff continued for what must have been at least three minutes, then, something completely unexpected happened.

 

Elmer came running at the two newsies from the side of the room with a metal pole, that came from god knows where. In fact, Elmer came from god knows where.

 

Anyway, he knocked the two newsies out, and for a few seconds, they all just stood there, not really knowing what had actually happened. Then Race, who has been standing on one foot, lost his balance, tried to steady himself with his broken ankle, yelped, and fell over into Albert.

 

“Race! Oh my gosh, you’re so dumb.” Spot said as he ran over to the pile that was now Race and Albert.

 

“Oh, well hello to you too.” Race said sarcastically. “Also, ow?” He said as he pointed to his ankle.

 

“Right, right!” Spot jumped, and started to help Race up.

 

While all that was happening, Elmer was at Alberts side, and it was pretty clear that he was trying not to cry.

 

“Are you ok?” Elmer asked him.

 

“I’m fine, they didn’t touch me.” Albert responded.

 

Then Elmer pulled Albert into an awkward hug, as Albert was still underneath Race.

 

“Ok let’s get yous back to Brooklyn.” Spot said loudly taking most of Racesweight as they slowly stood up.

 

“Yeah, we should go before any of them wake up. That could end badly.” Jack agreed.

 

They walked out of the building in silence, then Race, already more awake then he had been, half shouted, “Hey Jack! I’m the new crutchie!!”

 

“Oh yeah, I’m afraid yous is gonna have to battle with crutchie for that crutch!” Jack joked.

 

Race snorted.

 

Jack walked ahead of them in silence, as the two couples walked together.Then he heard a small thud.

 

Jack turned around to see what it was. He could hear Spot frantically yelling at Race.

 

Race had collapsed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof wow, what else am I gonna do? I honestly don’t know where I’m going with this... I surprised myself by writing this.  
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> Thoughts, criticism, suggestions? Please?   
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> Just gonna say, I’m in 7th grade, so I’m not good at writing.


	7. Race

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooo there some fluff in this! 💖💖  
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> I'm actually pretty proud of this chapter!  
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> This is the first fic that I’ve ever actually finished. 😁

~~~~~~~~Race~~~~~~~~~~~  
Race awoke to the sound of yelling from outside of the door. He couldn’t understand exactly what they were saying, but he could tell that something was happening. He looked over at the sleeping form of Albert, and decided that he should probably be awake for this.

“Albie, I think something's happening.” He whisper-shouted, shaking Albert.

Race was trying to stand up without putting any weight on his ankle, when he felt Albert put his hand on his shoulder, and pull him down to the floor.

When Race looked at Albert, he could tell that Albert was barely holding back a smile when he said, “I bet that’s them.”

Race was confused, and about to ask, ‘Who’, when the two guard newsies came running into the room.

They grabbed both him and Albert, put them into choke holds, and pressed what felt like knives against their throats.

By then it had become relatively clear to Race that the only thing that would warrant this type of a response from them, was people trying to rescue them, and the only people that knew, or cared, would be Spot and Jack. But even though he had already figured that out, he was still surprised when the door to the room swung open and revealed Jack standing just outside the door.

Even though he could see Jack, he could still hear fighting outside the room. Then, a few seconds later, the fighting got quieter, as though a fight close to the door had suddenly stopped, and a few seconds after that, none other than Spot appeared next to Jack.

Race had been expecting that, and he was still surprised. You see, when the king of Brooklyn shows up, something's gone horribly wrong. And so, his reaction to seeing Spot was understandable.

“Spot?” he said quietly.

Then the goon that was holding him kicked him in the ankle, and said something that was probably pretty rude, but the words sounded all jumbled as he talked. Probably from the pain that was radiating from his ankle.

Then Spot yelled something that Race still couldn’t understand, but knowing Spot, it probably involved the words ‘Fuck’ and/or ‘Bastard’.

Again, there were more words, coming from his left, where the newsie was holding Albert, and then a few seconds later, Elmer, Finch, Tommy Boy, and some other newsies from Brooklyn that Race recognized, but didn’t know their names.

But then, as soon as he came, Elmer gasped, and ran out of the building.

Race really hoped that Elmer wasn’t just leaving, and that he actually had a plan.

Jack seemed to make a move to go after him, but Spot grabbed his arm and muttered something that made Jack stop moving.

It seemed like this standoff continued for a really long time, then there was a yell from the side of the room that seemed to confuse not only Race, but also Spot and Jack and all of the other newsies that were there.

Then, there was a clang, and the pressure on Races neck disappeared.

Race just balanced there, and everybody else seemed to stand still, then Race lost his balance and fell straight into Albert, accidentally put weight on his broken ankle, which made him yelp, and seemed to set the world back into motion.

Spot was the first one to move. “Oh my gosh Race, you’re so stupid.”

Race decided to reply with his signature sarcasm to respond. “Oh well hello to you too.” then he remembered, and also noticed, the pain in his ankle, and pointed. “Also, ow?”

“Right… right!!” Spot jumped. Then started to help Race untangle himself from Albert, who, by then already had Elmer next to him.

A few moments after this, Jack cleared his throat. “We should probably get going before any of them wake up, that could end badly.”

They walked out of the building, then a thought popped into Races mind, and he decided that it would be necessary to tell Jack. “Hey Jack! I’m the new Crutchie!!”

Jack smiled. “Oh yeah, I’m afraid yous is gonna have to battle with crutchie for that crutch!”

Race snorted. Then, they began their trek back to Brooklyn.

Jack lead the way, and Spot and Race walked, or rather limped, behind him, along with Elmer and Albert, plus the rest of the newsies that had joined the rescue mission.

Then suddenly, Race started to feel lightheaded, and could feel his knees start to go weak. He needed to tell Spot, and he tried, he really did, “Spot...spo-”, but by the time Spot noticed him, he was already falling.

Race was pretty sure that Spot tried to catch him, and he half succeeded, but Race still hit the ground with some force.

As he felt consciousness slipping away, he could feel Spot shaking him, and his voice growing more and more frantic, “Race?... Race??”

Then everything went black.

 

**Two Hours Later**

 

Race woke up to see Spot laying his head on the bed next to him with their fingers intertwined, with Jack and Albert talking over on the other side of the room. He lifted up his head a little bit, and Spots head shot up.

“Racer? Hey, hows you feelin’” He asked.

Races throat felt really dry, “Uh, water?”

“Oh! Right! We’re pretty sure that you just passed out from dehydration. I’ll go get you some water.” Spot said. Then he got up and walked off in the direction of the door.

Albert took Spots place pretty quickly after he left the room. He gave him a forced smile.

“Hey Racer, you scared me. Spot had to carry you all the way back after you collapsed.”

Race smirked, “Oh well, I’m fine, how’s Elmer?” He said, then started coughing, which made his throat really hurt.

After about five seconds of Race coughing, and Albert just sitting there, not really knowing what to do, Spot came running in with a cup of water and Albert stood up and moved out of Spots way.

“Hey, hey, you gotta sit up now.” Spot said, already helping him sit up without bumping his ankle. Then, he handed Race the water. “Here, drink this.”

Race somehow managed to stop coughing long enough to take a few sips of the water, and then downed the rest of the water as the thirstiness started to set in.

Spot sighed, “Please never do that again.”

Race scoffed, “Do what? Drink water?”

“No, almost die.” Spot said as he rolled his eyes and maneuvered himself so that Race could lay down with his head on Spots lap.

“Well, no promises, I do play card games to make most of my money and I make a lot of people pretty mad when they lose all the time, so I mean-” Spot cut him off with a gentle slap on the arm.

“Stop. I don’t wanna hear about that. I kinda just want to sit here. We re-set your ankle while you were out, so can we just relax?”

“Well I don’t know about that, maybe I could just un-set my ankle, that seems like it would be more fun.” Race said sarcastically, goofily smiling up at Spot, who had started running his fingers through Races mysteriously cleaned hair.

“If you do that, I will murder you.” Spot said, which to anyone else would have been a legitimate threat.

“I missed this, and you, you know, when I was in there.” Race said, reaching up, grabbing one of Spots hands, and threading their fingers together.

Spot smiled, “You knew that we were gonna get you outta there, right?”

“Well, yeah, when I could think straight.” Race said with a grin.

“I’m never gonna let anyone hurt you like this again, ok?” Spot said, looking straight into Races piercing blue eyes.

“Promise?” Race asked.

Spot smiled and pressed a soft kiss to Race’s forehead.

“Promise.”

 ****Fin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awwwww💖💖  
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> So I just wanna tell anyone that reads these notes that I was having a really bad day and then I read through a bunch of the comments on this and it honestly made my day better, so thank you for all the comments!💜💜  
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> So I'm done with this fanfic... for now.  
> theres a posibility that I might continue the storyline at somepoint, but I also have a few Ideas for another fanfic.

**Author's Note:**

> Thoughts, constructive criticisms, legit just criticism. Help.  
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> Sorry 😐


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